HONOLULU — Before we officially move on to the Eran Ganot era of University of Hawaii men’s basketball here, let us first acknowledge interim coach Benjy Taylor once again for an outstanding job saving the program from a “lost” year
HONOLULU — Before we officially move on to the Eran Ganot era of University of Hawaii men’s basketball here, let us first acknowledge interim coach Benjy Taylor once again for an outstanding job saving the program from a “lost” year and giving the players and fans and university something to get excited about and take pride in during an otherwise very tumultuous time.
Whether Taylor deserved to be retained as permanent head coach is still debatable, but also a moot point by now since the decision has been made to change directions at the helm. Regardless, Taylor does deserve a warm sendoff at the April 29 postseason banquet and perpetual gratitude for keeping the ship righted in stormy seas.
We now move on to Ganot, and by all appearances — except for perhaps Taylor — he seems like the logical choice to lead the Rainbow Warriors back to glory in the long term.
Ganot is young (33), but has a lot of experience accumulated in two mid-major programs over the past 10 years, from volunteer to Director of Basketball Operations to assistant coach to associate head coach to acting head coach (for five games over two weeks). He’s paid his dues and steadily worked his way up the ladder through old-fashioned hard work, passion and diligence.
Ganot said all the right things during his 29-minute introductory press conference last Thursday, and if he indeed follows through on everything he said, the Rainbow Warriors can look forward to much success over the next 10, 15 or even 20 years and beyond.
But as he mentioned repeatedly throughout the press conference, it begins with people – in particular, the returning players. Ganot stayed true to that first principle, meeting with those players at 7 a.m. Thursday, two hours before the press conference began.
“I wish I had more time with them, but the focus of that was I wanted them to hear from me before this (press conference) happened or they heard anything else,” Ganot said. “I talked to them about how great a place this is. I wanted to come in – and I hoped they would (be) too – open mind(ed) and flexible. We tried to set up individual meetings. I’m gonna do the best I can, and I hope they do, as well, in terms of getting to know each other. And then we can go from there.
“I told them that’s my priority – I gotta do a bunch of (other) things … but I told them, ‘You guys are the priority.’ ”
As it should be. After all, these players were recruited to the University of Hawaii – albeit by another coach – and they are the ones who went 22-13 this past season, bringing the program to where it is right at this moment. Every effort should be made to allow them to stay, if they want, and be comfortable with the program they have committed to.
Ganot said he is willing to be flexible, especially when it comes to style of play.
“When you talk about an offensive philosophy, which we have, you wrinkle a little bit here depending on your strengths,” Ganot said. “I’m gonna approach that the same way with everything. There’s a blueprint, (and) there’s a different blueprint for Hawaii. And I talked to them about that. These guys have some great strengths, obviously, and you’re gonna tailor some things to that. I told them that.”
That’s good news for players like Isaac Fleming, who loves to create off the dribble and let fly the 3-point shot when he’s “feeling it,” and Aaron Valdes, who likes to go backdoor for alley-oop slam dunks. It’s also encouraging for forwards Negus Webster-Chan and Stefan Jankovic, each of whom likes to hang out on the perimeter for 3-point shot opportunities.
Defensively, it’s good news for point guard Roderick Bobbitt, who led the nation in total steals this past season.
But as Ganot mentioned, flexibility works both ways, so the players need to be willing to trust and follow his instructions and reign things in a bit when asked.
When asked about recruiting, and what he looks for, Ganot said:
“High-quality people, good players, … people who want to be in Hawaii, and understand how special it is,” Ganot said. “And it’s very special.”
Ganot said he will apply the same standard when assembling his staff:
“Great people, great coaches … (who) understand Hawaii or want to learn about Hawaii, and want to be here,” he said.
By all accounts, Ganot himself seems to fit that criteria and if he succeeds in building a culture of discipline, hard work and passion, there could be great things ahead. As a pupil of former UH coach Riley Wallace and current Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, he will no doubt also incorporate some of their philosophies and values. Which can be a good thing, given those coaches’ success at those schools.
But at 33, Ganot also is young enough to adapt different to different styles and philosophies as needed, and theoretically he can better understand and relate to this new generation of players.
There will be challenges, for sure, starting with convincing all of the returning players to stay. And then there is the still-looming possibility of NCAA sanctions, which could impact recruiting.
But coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons, and with potentially all but one player returning from this past season’s main rotation, there is plenty to build upon.
As much as anyone else besides maybe Taylor, Ganot appears to be the right person to do the job.
